COL.  GEORGE  WASHINGTON  FLOWERS 
MEMORIAL  COLLECTION 


DUKE  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 
DURHAM,  N.  C. 


PRESENTED  BY 

W.  W.  FLOWERS 


THE  SPEECHES 
\ 

OF. 

FHIOF  A.  BOLLING. 

(OF  BUCKINGHAM) 

IN  THE 
ON  THE 

FOL.ICY  OF  THE  STATE 
IN  RELATION  TO 

HER  COI.OME»  POPULATION  % 

Delivered  on  the  llth  and  2bth  of  January,  1832. 

It  is  due  to  Mr.  Boiling  to  state  that  his  speeches  have  been  published  in  the  present  form, 
at  the  request  of  a  numbej-  of  his  constituents. 


RICHMOND: 

Thomas  W.  White,  Printer. 
1S32. 


"SVEDNESD AY,  January  11,  1832- 
TvTr.  Goooe  of  Mecklenburg,  rose  to  move  the  foliowing  resoiuiion. 

EtKohed,  That  the  select  comniittce  raised  on  the  subjecu  of  slaves,  free  negroes,  and  ihe 
melancholy  occurrences  growing  out  of  the  tragical  massacre  in  Sou<^hamp(on,  be  discharged 
from  the  consideration  of  all  petitions,  memorials  and  resolutions,  which  have  for  their  ob- 
ject, the  maauaiission  of  persons  held  in  servitude  under  the  exisiing  lav*  6  of  ih'.s  conimon- 
wealth,  and  that  it  is  not  expedient  to  legislate  on  the  subject.' 

Mr.  Randolph  moved  the  foilov/ing  substitute,  to  be  inserted  afl.er  the  word  "  Southamp- 
ton:" 

 "  be  instructed  to  mquire  into  the  expediency  of  submitting  to  the  vote  c;f  the 

qnaiified  v  Mers  ia  tIk^  several  t-rsvns,  cities,  boroughs,  and  counties  of  this  common'.vealth, 
t^ie  p.-->pi-iery  (;f  p-rnvidine:  by  law,  that  ihe  childi-en  of  all  female  slaves,  v,-ho  may  !je  born 
i.i  ;.      -  i      "11  i-  .lie  kh  d;iy  of  Jaiy,  1^:10,  shall  i'Ccomc  ihe  property  of  the  coai-^ 

ivi  ;  I'i'-  .if  t.be  ;« of  t'-veuiy-orM;  years,  and  f  'lniles  ai.  the  «gf  of  ei^.hteen,  if 

detained  ny  their  owners  within  the  limits  of  Virginia,  until  fhey  shall  respectively  arrive  at 
the  ages  atoresaid,  to  be  hired  out  until  the  aett  sum  arismg  therefrom,  shah  be  saiiicient  to 
defray  the  expen.3e  of  their  removal,  beyond  tiie  limits  of  the  United  fcialcs,  and  il^ixi  said 
committee  have  leave  to  report  by  bill  or  otherwise." 


TUESDAY,  January  11,  1832. 

MR.  BOLLING  rose  and  addres.^cd  the  house.  He  regret'ied  that 
the^subject  had  been  forced  upon  the  house  by  the  introduction  of  the 
resolution  of  the  gentleman  from  Mecklenburg.  Tlie  coniaiittee  had 
had  the  subject  under  consideration,  and  a  report  was  expected  from 
it  in  a  few  days.  Those  who  are  friendly  to  acting  upon  the  wliole 
subject,  had  hoped  that  the  committee  would  have  been  allowed  to 
report:  but  gentlemen  had  thought  fit  to  pursue  a  different  course ; 
and  had  prematurely  forced  the  discussion  of  the  subject  upon  us;  riO 
alternative  was  left  to  him  but  argument — and  he  felt  imperiously 
bound  to  adopt  it,  and  he  would  do  so.  In  doing  so,  however,  he  did 
not  deem  it  necessary  or  proper  to  enter  into  an  argument  upon  every 
point  urged  by  those  who  had  preceded  iiim  in  debate.  The  course 
pursued  by  llie  gentleman  from  Rockbridge  he  could  noi  approve — no, 
he  could  not. 

The  question  of  abstract  right  is  not  a  question  now  at  all  proper 
to  be  mooted — for  the  system  of  slavery,  now  enisling  in  this  com- 
monwealth, is  not  a  worli  of  our  hands,  but  a  curse  entailed  upon  us 
by  our  ancestors.  The  position  he  should  take  in  the  discussion  of 
this  question,  was  one  of  policy — nay,  sir,  of  self-preservation.  The 
advocates  of  slavery — while  drujik  with  prejudice,  exclaim — we  are 
sober.  It  has  too  long  been  the  pleasure  of  those  who  are  wedded  to 
a  system  of  slavery,  to  brand  all  its  opponents  with  opprobrious  epi- 
thets. To  represent  them  as  enemies  to  good  order;  as  persons  de- 
sirous of  teariiig  up  the  foundations  of  society  by  the  roots — thereby 
endeavoring  to  render  them  odious — to  brand  them  with  infamy — to 
avert  from  them  the  public  ear,  that  their  voices  may  be  lost  in  air, 
as  tHe  voice  of  one  crying  aloud  in  the  wilderness."    This,  of  itself, 


is  an  inconiestible  proof  that  they  are  conscious  of  the  weakness  of 
their  cause.  No  man,  who  is  firmly  convinced  that  he  is  sustained  by 
reason  and  justice,  liesitates  to  confront  his  adversary.  He,  and  he 
alone,  wiio  stands  self  convicted  shrinks  from  scrutiny  ;  therefore  he 
acts  unwisely,  in  n)y  humble  judgment,  who,  avoiding  a  dispassionate 
consideration  of  a  subject,  seeks  to  entrench  himself  behind  tlie  false 
opinions  and  prejudices  of  society.  Sir,  it  is  a  tacit  admission  that 
reason  and  justice  are  against  him,  and  that  he  *' w  ants  none  of  their 
reproof." 

This,  sir,  is  a  grave  and  important  subject — one  that  ought  to  be, 
and  will  be  considered.  Its  importance  demands  that  it  should  be 
considered  and  debated  here;  and  not,  as  some  gentlemen  think,  a 
reason  that  it  should  be  passed  in  silence,  and  acted  upon  in  secret. 
No,  sir,  our  action  should  be  calm  atid  dispassionate — but  open,  bold 
and  manly.  Sir,  that  it  is  an  evil — a  great  and  an  appalling  evil — he 
dared  believe  no  sane  man  would  or  could  deny.  Nor,  sir,  can  it  be 
denied  that  it  deprives  us  of  many  of  those  advantages,  facilities,  and 
blessings  which  we  should  enjoy,  had  we  a  more  dense  white  population. 
Tiiat  it  is  a  blighting,  withering  curse  upon  this  land — is  clearly  de- 
monstrated by  this  very  discussion  itself.  For  gentlemen  have  told 
us  it  had  created  a  morbid  excitement  throughout  this  whole  common- 
wealih — which  it  was  of  the  utmost  importance  to  allay. 

We  have  been  told,  also,  sir,  that  the  action  of  this  house  had  in- 
duced Louisiana  to  pass  laws  prohibiting  the  introduction  of  slaves 
into  that  state.  Surely  gentlemen  cannot  be  serious  in  urging  that 
proposition,  when  every  gentleman  must  be  aware  of  the  fact,  that 
that  law  passed  before  this  subject  had  been  agitated  here  at  all.  It 
is  evident  that  the  law  of  Louisiana  had  grown  out  of  the  tragic  oc- 
currences of  the  last  summer.  The  bame  observation  will  apply  to 
the  excitement  amongst  our  own  citizens,  of  which  so  much  had  been 
said  in  this  debate. 

If  he  thought  that  any  remarks  of  his  would  add  aught  to  the  ex- 
citement now  existing  throughout  Virginia,  he  would  not  utter  one 
word — no,  sir,  not  one;  but  permit  the  question  to  pass  by  silently. 
He  believed  that  the  excitement  was  already  abroad— -had  been  long 
abroad,  and  had  its  origin  in  occurrences  anterior  to  the  actions  of 
this  house,  in  any  way  whatever.  The  feeling  of  security,  so  abso- 
lutely necessary  to  the  repose  of  society,  was  gone-— forever  destroyed. 

The  confidence  of  the  people  was  utterly  lost.  Nor,  sir,  can  this 
house  by  refusing  to  act,  in  some  wyy  or  other,  ever  restore  to  society 
that  feeling  of  security  —that  confidence  which  it  once  enjoyed — and 
without  which  it  can  have  no  tolerahU  existence.  Nor  does  this  want 
of  confidence  and  feeling  of  insecurity,  result  from  any  craven  fear. 
-  No,  sir,  it  results  from  the  noblest  feelings  of  the  human  lieart,  and 
it  is  no  partial  feeling,  but  is  felt  by  all.  Who,  that  has  a  mother, 
wife,  sister,  or  child,  that  has  not  felt,  when  seriously  rejecting  upon 
this  subject,  pangs  little  short  of  death  ? 

Yes,  sir,  many  a  brave  man  who  would  face,  without  shrinking,  the 
terrible  array  of  battle,  and  with  a  fearless  heart,  spur  upon  the  can- 
non's mouth,  has  felt  his  blood,  in  icy  currents,  flow  back  upon  its 
source  from  the  chilling,  the  fearful  thought,  that  when  he  should  re- 


4 


turn  to  the  home  he  had  left  surrounded  by  ail  those  domestic  bles- 
suigs  which  make  life  so  dear,  he  should  be  greeted— not  with  the 
smile  of  joy  and  of  v/elcome—bni  by  the  mangled  corses  of  his  hutch" 
ered family.  Shall  we  say,  then,  that  there  is  nothing  to  fear,  when 
such  feelings  as  those,  but  yesterday  agitated  the  bravest  of  us?  It 
is  true,  that  we  are  told  to  be  at  ease—for,  say  gentlemen,  the  very 
breath  of  the  nostrils  of  the  slave,  is  in  the  hands  of  the  master.  That 
the  late  deep  tragedy,  had  been  the  work  of  fanatics  only.  True,  I)ut 
have  gentlemen  any  philosophical  principles  by  which  to  graduate 
fanaticism  f  Have  they  miy  arithmetical  rule,  by  which  to  calculate 
the  time,  the  place,  the  force,  when  and  where,  and  how  violently  it 
will  burst  forth?  No,  sir,  they  have  not.  Fanaticism,  of  all  the  lior- 
rid  passions  with  which  man  is  cursed,  is  the  most  wild  and  ungovern- 
able in  its  character,  and  is  the  peculiar  child  of  ignorance.  Igno- 
rance is  the  necessary  consequence  of  slavery ;  and  we  all  know,  sir, 
that  our  slaves  are  not  only  extremely  ignorant,  but  extremely  fanati- 
cal; and,  therefore,  always  dangerous.  These  are  truths  ;  truths  that 
force  themselves  upon  us,  and  forces  off  our  most  valued  and  valuable 
citizens.  Yes,  sir,  it  drives  into  reluctant  exile,  the  good,  the  wise, 
the  generous,  and  the  brave,  who  value  the  rich  enjoyments  of  domes- 
tic happiness,  which  entwine  themselves  about  their  liearts,  with  a 
force  more  powerful  than  the  iron  grasp  with  which  the  child  of  ava- 
rice clings  to  the  unfortunate  slave.  Yes,  sir,  it  is  such  citizens  who 
are  driven  from  this  commonwealth — men  wlio  would  be  Virginia's 
ornament  in  peace,  and  her  shield  in  war. 

There  is  yet  anot'oer  evil  growing  out  of  our  present  system  of  sla- 
very. It  drives  from  us  the  laboring  man — the  honest,  industrious 
poor.  For,  sir,  the  slave-holder,  whether  he  reaps  a  profit  or  sustains 
a  loss  by  the  employment  of  his  slave,  must  support  him.  He  must 
provide  for  him  "  food  and  raiment,"  and  a  shelter  from  the  weather 
— furnish  him  with  medical  aid  in  sickness — in  short,  he  must  do  all 
things  necessary  for  his  comfort,  alike  in  sickness  and  in  health.  To 
enable  him  to  do  so,  he  must  have  his  slaves  taught  various  trades— 
they  must  be  coopers,  carpenters,  millers,  blacksmiths,  ditchers,  &tc. 
which  necessarily  excludes  the  laboring  white  man  from  all  of  them, 
to  a  great  extent,  and  deprives  him  of  those  means  which  he  would 
otherwise  enjoy,  for  the  support  of  himself  and  family — so  that  he  too, 
must  seek  a  more  favored  land.  The  small  freeliolders  are  driven  off 
also.  They  are  men,  generally,  who  own  small  portions  of  land,  a 
part  of  what  their  fathers  once  owned,  and  who  had  exhausted  it  by 
the  miserable  cultivation  generally  attendant  upon  slave  labor — and 
these  men,  unable  to  support  a  growing  family,  from  the  meagre  pro- 
duct of  their  lands,  they  find  all  other  occupations  filled  by  slaves,  and 
the  road  to  elevation  thereby  closed  against  them.  The  hard  strug- 
gle they  have  to  make  for  the  bare  necessaries  of  life — to  say  nothing 
of  its  luxuries — puts  an  effectual  extinguisher  upon  all  the  humble  as- 
pirations of  their  ambition.  The  sparseness  of  the  white  population, 
opposes  almost  an  insurmountable  obstacle  in  the  way  of  the  educa- 
tion of  their  children.  [This,  sir,  is  no  ideal  evil ;  for  I  have  seen 
many  men  of  twenty — nay,  forty  and  fifty  years  of  age,  who  could 
not  write  their  names:  and,  sir,  I  will  almost  hazard  my  veracity,  that 


5 


no  such  case  can  be  found  In  the  eastern  states,  unless  the  individual 
be  a  natural  fool,  or  a  wilful  truant.]  Thus  goaded  by  misfortune, 
with  an  aching  heart,  they  leave  the  land  of  their  fathers,  and  their 
place  is  supplied — not  by  free  white  men,  but  by  a  slave— who  is  use- 
less in  war,  and  dangerous  in  peace.  If  we  turn  our  eyes  to  that  part 
of  our  country  which  lies  below  the  mountains,  and  particularly  below 
the  falls  of  our  rivers,  it  seems  as  if  some  judgment  from  heaven  had 
passed  over  it  and  seared  it ;  fields  once  cultivated,  are  now  waste  and 
desolate — the  eye  is  no  longer  cheered  by  the  rich  verdure  that  decked 
it  in  other  days.  No,  sir,  but  fatigued  by  an  interminable  wilderness 
of  worn-out,  gullied,  piny  old  fields. 

So  exhausted  is  our  soil,  so  depressed  our  markets,  and  so  dear  is 
slave  labor,  that  it  is  as  much  as  the  master  can  do  to  clothe  and  feed 
his  slaves — nay,  sir,  often  more  than  he  can  do;  for,  if  you  will  go 
into  the  credit  stores  and  pop-shops,  (with  which  the  whole  country  is 
thronged)  you  will  find  that,  with  very  few  exceptions,  the  slave-holder 
has  there  become  very  deeply  entangled — the  embarrassment  mainly 
incurred  to  clothe  and  feed  his  slaves.  The  slave  is  clothed  and  fed, 
that  he  may  labor  for  victuals  and  clothes— a  beautiful  operation!  — 
Thus,  sir,  the  master  of  the  slave  absolutely  belongs  to  the  merchant, 
and  has  to  labor — and  labor  hard — for  their  benefit.  He  is  literally 
their  bondsman.  Finally,  when  they  have  extracted  from  him  all  they 
can,  his  account  is  put  into  the  lawyer's  hand  for  collection,  and  he 
has  to  raise  the  money  or  go  to  jail.  Then  steps  forward  the  paper- 
shaver,  (another  fungus  of  our  present  condition)  and  kindly  profiers 
the  money  at  ihiriy-tfiree  and  a  third  per  cent.  Thus  the  poor  devil  of 
a  master  is  finally  stripped  of  all  he  has,  to  swell  the  importance  of 
these  gentry.  The  very  fact,  sir,  that  we  see  such  cattle  daily  spring- 
ing into  importance  from  the  dregs  of  society — he  did  not  mean  by 
dregs  of  society,  the  poor,  but  honest  man — no,  but  he  meant  men 
lost  to  honor,  virtue,  and  to  common  honesty.  This,  he  said,  was  a 
proof  of  the  necessity  of  a  change  in  our  condition.  We  have  been 
taught  from  our  infancy  to  chime  the  stale  tune  of  "Yankee  tricks;" 
but  he  did  not  believe  such  a  character  was  to  be  tbund  in  the  eastern 
states. 

Gentlemen  had  said  that  those  who  advocated  the  examination  of 
this  subject,  proposed  forthwith,  to  abolish  slavery;  but  they  were  mis- 
taken—they only  desire  that  this  house  may  take  it  into  serious  con- 
sideration, and  endeavor  to  digest  some  plan  for  the  gradual  riddance 
of  the  state,  from  its  present  unfortunate  condition.  From  the  course 
the  gentleman  from  Mecklenburg  had  adopted,  and  the  tenor  of  his 
remarks,  he  had  every  moment  expected  him  to  cry  out  "  gentlemen, 
you  are  standing  on  slipjDery  rocks,  while  fiery  billows  roll  below." 

Sir,  the  terrible  picture  drawn  by  that  gentleman,  of  our  condition, 
if  correctly  drawn,  is  a  strong,  very  strong  argument  that  we  ought 
to  act,  and  that  speedily.  But  why  multiply  words — there  is  no  point 
to  which  we  can  turn,  that, this  great  evil  does  not  stare  us  in  the  face 
— it  disturbs  us  on  all  sides— it  is  a  bone  of  contention  between  eastern 
and  western  Virginia— between  the  slave-holding  and  the  non-slave- 
holding  states. 

It  is  entirely  vain  for  gentlemen  to  urge  that  the  discussion  of  it 


6 


will  endanger  the  value  of  the  property — will  violate  the  private  right 
in  that  property. 

He  reckoned  such  arguments  very  feeble  against  the  great  argu- 
ment of  dire  necessity,  which  is  pressing  itself  upon  us. 

He  said  property  was  secured  by  the  laws  of  society,  and  that  the 
same  society  which  secured  property,  had  a  natural  right  to  destroy 
it,  whenever  it  should  become  a  dangerous  nuisance  to  that  society. 
Yes,  sir,  they  have  a  right  to  abate  any  and  every  nuisance. 


MONDAY,  January  16,  1832. 

Mr.  Bi-odnax,  from  the  committee  on  the  colored  population,  presented  the  following  re- 
port : 

The  select  committee,  to  whom  was  referred  certain  memorials,  pra)^'ng  the  passage  of 
some  law  providing  for  the  gradual  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  commonwealth,  have,  accord- 
ing to  order,  had  the  same  under  consideration,  and  have  come  to  the  following  resolution 
thereupon: 

Resolved  as  the  opinion  of  this  committee,  That  it  is  inexpedient  for  the  present  legislature 
to  make  any  legislative  enactment  for  the  abolition  of  slavery. 

Mr.  Preston  moved  that  the  resolution  reported  from  the  committee,  be  amended,  by  strik- 
ing out  the  word  "inexpedient,"  and  inserting  the  word  "expedient." 


TUESDAY,  January  25,  1832. 

'  MR.  BOLLING  rose  and  said: — He  regretted  much  the  necessity 
which  rendered  it  his  duty  to  intrude  upon  the  attention  of  the  house, 
at  so  late  a  stage  of  the  debate  ;  and  that  too,  after  the  disinclination 
manifest  on  the  part  of  the  house,  to  hear  more  upon  the  subject 
under  discussion.  However,  as  he  had  moved  the  adjournment  the 
day  before,  and  was  therefore  expected  to  address  the  house- — and 
from  a  sense  of  duiy  to  himself,  and  those  he  had  the  honor  to  repre- 
sent— he  would  proceed. 

Those  reasons,  and  those  only,  induced  him  to  proceed;  for  there 
was  no  palm  left — no  laurels  for  him  to  gain:  every  palm  had  been 
borne  off — every  laurel  won — by  those  who  had  so  ably,  and  sd  elo- 
quently preceded  him.  Constrained,  however,  by  a  sense  of  duty  to 
his  country,  he  should  go  througii  what  he  had  undertaken,  though 
his  words  should  be  "like  smoke  to  th^^eyes,  and  vinegar  to  the  teeth,'* 
after  the  rich  eloquence  and  profound  reasoning  which  had  alike  de- 
lighted and  instructed  the  house. 

The  debate  had  been,  indeed,  a  feast  of  the  soul.  It  had  risen  as  it 
had  progressed,  until  it  seemed  to  "  stoop  to  touch  the  loftiest  thought." 
It  had  flowed  on  "like  some  river  of  vast  and  unfailing  source," 
and  had  borne  the  mind  along  with  it.    To  return  to  this  subject.  It 


7 


would  be  remembered,  when  he  before  addressed  the  house,  the  subject 
was  presented  in  a  different  form  from  the  one  it  assumed  at  present. — * 
At  that  time,  the  committee  had  not  made  their  report.  They  have 
now  reported  it  "  inexpedient"  to  act  upon  the  subject — and  it  is  pro- 
posed to  amend  that  report,  by  striking  out  the  word  "inexpedient." 
and  inserting  the  word  ''expedient."  Believing  that  it  is  expedient 
that  "  something  should  be  done" — that  some  legislative  action  should 
be  commenced;  not  that  improvident  and  fanatical  action  that  had 
been  charged  upon  the  friends'  of  reform,  but  a  wise,  prudent,  pro- 
gressive, yet  efficient  action.  He  was  for  action — but  in  a  way  that, 
like  tlie  mild  dews  of  heaven,  which  carries  moisture  and  freshness  to 
the  withering  rose,  should  gradually  overcome  the  evil  which  now 
presses  upon  us,  and  promises  still  to  increase^  until  final  ruin  shall 
overtake  us,  unless  we  are  aroused — and  quickly,  from  the  deep  sleep 
in  which  we  have  already  too  long  indulged.  Believing  that  such  a 
course  of  action  was  desirable,  he  had,  on  a  former  occasion,  indulged 
in  a  few  remarks  upon  the  subject  of  slavery,  and  he  now  purposed 
going  somewhat  more  at  length  in  the  investigation  of  that  subject. 

He  was  no  fanatic  in  his  views  of  the  subject.  His  opinions  were 
formed  from  what  he  had  seen  around  him;  and  he  had  attempted,  in 
his  former  remarks,  to  give  a  common-sense  statement  of  those  opin- 
ions. Plain  and  simple  as  he  had  thought  them,  gentlemen  had,  nev- 
ertheless, thought  fit  to  style  them  "a  dirge."  He  did  not  propo&e  to 
bandy  hard  names  with  gentlemen — he  would  not  retort  the  epithet ; 
but  he  would  say,  when  reasons  fail,  one  is  apt  to  resort  to  such  epi- 
thets to  prop  a  failing  cause. 

He  had  said,  and  he  dared  repeat,  that  slavery  was  a  blighting, 
withering  curse,  that  robs  Virginia  soil  of  its  rich  verdure,  and  is  dry- 
ing up  the  very  lifeblood  of  her  national  wealth,  honor  and  prosperity. 
He  had  seen  the  baleful  consequences,  and  from  what  he  had  seen,  he 
had  been  induced  to  act. 

He  had  always  understood  it  to  be  the  true  policy  of  all  govern- 
ments to  pursue  a  policy  calculated  to  keep  their  citizens  from  emi- 
grating— so  long  as  supplies  were  abundant,  and  their  labor  could  be 
profitably  employjgd.  Such,  sir,  is  the  true  policy  of  all  governments, 
and  of  none  more  than  of  Virginia.  Is  the  refiipal  to  adopt  measures 
calculated  to  mitigate  now,  and  finally  to  arrest  the  evils  of  slavery — 
a  course  of  policy  calculated  to  prevent,  or  in  nny  way  lessen  the  emi- 
gration of  our  citizens.^  No  such  result  can  be  expected  from  so  un- 
wise a  course. 

He  had  before  said,  and  it  had  been  repeatedly  urged,  and  was  most 
unquestionably  true,  that,  unless  some  measures  shall  be  adopted  to 
bring  about  a  change  in  our  condition,  for  the  better,  that  man>',  very 
many  of  our  most  valuable  citizens  will  leave  the  state.  For  having 
urged  this  upon  the  attention  of  the  house  upon  a  former  occasion, 
he  had  been  charged  with  saying  "  that  slaverj^  made  our  citizens 
cowards."  He  was  glad  the  charge  had  been  withdrawn,  for  he  had 
said  no  such  thing. 

He  neither  wished  to  plunge  the  commonwealth  into  any  rash  mea- 
sure;  nor  to  sneak  on  to  his  purpose  under  covert  of  any  pretended 
avefsion  to  abolition — both  his  judgment  and  his  feelings  were  with 


8 


the  cause;  but  he  was  by  no  means  disposed  to  produce  a  disruption 
of  the  ties  which  bind  society  together.  He  believed  it  was  now  time 
to  begin  "while  the  evil  days  come  not,  before  the  cistern  is  broken  at 
the  well,  and  before  the  grinding  is  low."  It  was  now  time  to  begin, 
by  laying  a  foundation  upon  which  to  rear  the  future  superstructure. 
The  time  will  come,  and  it  may  be  sooner  than  many  are  willing  to 
believe,  when  this  oppressed  and  degraded  race  can  not  be  held  as 
they  now  are :  when  a  change  will  be  effected  by  means  abhorrent,  Mr. 
Speaker,  to  you,  and  to  the  feelings  of  every  good  man.  The  wounded 
adder  will  recoil,  and  sting  the  foot  that  tramples  upon  it.  The  day 
is  fast  approaching  when  those  who  oppose  all  action  upon  this  sub- 
ject, and,  instead  of  aiding-  in  devising  some  feasible  plan  for  freeing 
their  country  from  an  acknowledged  curse,  cry  "impossible"  to  every 
plan  suggested,  will  curse  their  perverseness,  and  lament  their  folly. 
Those  gentlemen  who  hug  slavery  to  their  bosoms,  "and  roll  it  as  a 
sweet  morsel  under  the  tongue,"  have  been  very  lavish  in  their  denun- 
ciations of  all  who  are  for  stirring  one  inch  on  this  subject.  They 
had  not  hesitated  to  class  all  the  friends  of  reform,  without  any  sort  of 
discrimination,  with  Garrison  and  Loydd.  What  sort  of  resemblance 
is  there  between  the  free  and  manly  discussion  of  a  subject,  by  free- 
men, the  representatives  of  freemen,  addressed  to  freemen,  and  the  un- 
der-handed attempts  of  incendiary  cut-throats,  to  sharpen  the  dagger 
in  the  hand  of  the  midnight  assassin.^  Are  the  representatives  of  Vir- 
ginia, for  daring  to  attempt  to  point  out  the  evils  and  impolicy  of 
slavery,  to  be  coupled  with  Loydd  and  Walker.^^  Was  he,  for  discharg- 
ing what  he  conscientiously  believed  to  be  his  duty  to  his  country,  to 
be  branded  with  infamy.^  \Vas  he,  for  that,  to  be  classed  with  incendia- 
ries, wlio  would  gladly  light  the  torch  to  burn  our  dwellings  over  the 
heads  of  our  women  and  children  ?  Could  such  imputations  result 
from  any  thing  but  a  strong  sense,  on  the  part  of  those  who  indulged 
in  them,  that  they  were  in  error;  and  because  reasons  for  their  persist- 
ing in  it  having  failed,  their  only  refuge  was  abuse  and  detraction. 
For  his  part,  he  wanted  no  belter  evidence  of  the  power  of  deep- 
rooted  prejudice  over  the  mind  of  man — no  better  proof  of  the  obli- 
quity of  human  reason,  than  was  to  be  gathered  frqm  such  denuncia- 
tions. ^ 

There  is,  sir,  a  "  still  small  voice,"  which  speaks  to  the  heart  of 
man  in  a  tone  too  clear  and  distinct  to  be  disregarded.  It  tells  him 
that  every  system  of  slavery  is  based  upon  injustice  and  oppression. 
If  gentlemen  disregard  it  now,  and  lull  their  consciences  to  sleep,  they 
may  be  aroused  to  a  sense  of  their  danger,  when  it  is  too  late  to  re- 
pair their  error.  He  thought  it  right  for  him  to  say  thus  much  to  re- 
pel the  imputations  of  gentlemen.  So  far  as  he  was  personally  con- 
cerned, he  had  done  with  them.  He  would  occupy  the  attention  of 
the  house  with  a  few  remarks  upon  the  course  that  western  gentlemen 
had  pursued  upon  the  question  under  consideration.  They  had  been 
roundly  assailed.  They  had  been  charged  with  a  desire  to  rob  the 
east;  and  the  comparison  had  been  made  between  their  course  and  that 
of  a  felon  who  should  attempt  to  rob  the  Speaker  of  his  watch.  Had 
western  gentlemen  manifested  any  desire  to  rob  the  east.^  No--he 
thought  not.    It  was  true  that  he  thought  they  had  indulged  impro- 


perly  in  the  discussion  of  abstract  right  and  abstract  principles,  and 
pushed  their  views  beyond  a  practical  point;  but  they  had  not,  he 
thought,  expressed  the  hostile  sentiments  which  have  been  attributed 
to  them.  Eastern  gentlemen  have  declared  this  a  sectional  question. 
They  have  said  the  west  had  no  interest  in,  and  should  take  no  part  in 
it;  but  should  stand  aloof  and  silently  witness  the  progress  of  an  evil 
which  is  bringing  ruin  upon  this  commonwealth.  Such  an  idea 
seemed  to  him  absurd.  If  we  are  all  Virginians,  we  are  all  interested 
in  this  question;  for,  unless  it  is  arrested,  its  curse  must  be  common  to 
the  whole  state.  The  west  is,  then,  interested  in  the  question — deeply 
interested  in  devising  some  preventive  measure — some  measure  that 
will  rescue  the  west  from  this  mildew.  Western  gentlemen  are  called 
upon  by  every  consideration  of  prudence  and  philanthropy,  to  avert 
from  their  children  this  heavy  curse,  which  mars  the  fortunes  of  their 
eastern  brethren.  He  was  happy  to  see  that  those  gentlemen  were 
true  to  themselves  and  to  Virginia.  Although  he  was  compelled  to 
condemn  much  they  had  said,  he  tendered  them  his  thanks  for  the  aid 
they  had  given  upon  this  occasion  to  the  friends  of  reform.  He 
looked  upon  them  before  as  his  brethren,  and  he  greeted  them  now  as 
doubly  his  brethren.  He  placed  them  before  high  in  the  scale  of  hu- 
nianity — he  now  ranked  them  still  higher.  They  have  contributed 
their  share  to  emancipate  Virginia  from  the  fetters  whicli  have  so  long 
bound  her;  and  they  deserve  the  thanks  of  every  lover  of  his  country. 

But,  to  return  to  the  question  in  debate.  Gentlemen  have  told  us, 
that  we  have  no  need  for  action — for,  say  they,  Virginia  is  increasing 
in  population,  fertility  and  wealth.  He  denied  that  Virginia  had  in- 
creased in  population,  fertility,  or  wealth  as  she  ought  to  have  done — 
as  her  facilities  would  have  enabled  her  to  do,  if  she  had  not  been 
trammelled  by  slavery.  Her  increase  had  not  been  like  that  of  the 
miser,  who  continually  adds  dollar  after  dollar  to  his  hoard— nor  yet 
like  the  regular  increase  of  the  careful  and  prudent  man  ;  but,  on  the 
contrarj^  like  the  spendthrift,  she  had  neglected  her  true  interest,  and 
wasted  those  riches  which  nature  has  so  bountifully  lavished  upon  her. 
She  has  not  taken  that  tide  at  the  flood  which  has  led  many  of  her  sis- 
ter states  on  to  fortune.  All  that  is  necessary  to  establish  the  truth  of 
this  position,  is  to  compare  Virginia  with  those  states.  If  slavery  be 
not  the  cause  of  her  lagging  behind,  Vi'hy  is  it  tliat  all  the  slave-holding 
states  are  depressed,  and  all  the  non-slave-hoiding  slates  prospering  be- 
yond all  historic  parallel  ?  The  ready  answer  that  gentlemen  give  is, 
"tlie  tariff."  Why,  then,  let  me  ask,  does  the  tariff  benefit  the  non- 
slave  states,  and  depress  the  slave  states?  Why,  sir,  just  because  one  is 
free  from  the  curse  of  slavery,  and  because  the  other  is  not.  He  was 
no  advocate  of  the  tariff;  but  these  plain  reasons  pressed  upon  him — 
and  he  would  give  them.  Gentlemen  manifest  a  great  want  of  obser- 
vation and  very  little  knowledge  of  human  chc^-acter,  when  they  say, 
that  they  would  resort  to  arms  before  they  would  submit  to  any  mea- 
sure to  free  the  state  of  slavery.  Who  would  gentlemen  fight?  Why 
they  would  be  reduced  to  the  awkward  necessity  of  fighting  themselves. 
Should  they,  in  the  hour  of  their  wrath,  fly  to  arms,  like  the  famous 
Knight  of  La  Mancha,  they  would  strike  at  their  own  cost.  Should 
the  wine-bags  be  severed  by  a  random  thrust,  it  would  be  at  their  own 
2 


10 


expense — for  no  such  step  could  fail  to  bring  certain  ruin  upon  them. 
Notwithstanding  eastern  gentlemen  have  waxed  so  warm,  Mr.  Speaker, 
there  are  man}^  very  many,  in  eastern  Virginia,  who  had  rather  resign 
their  slaves  gratuitously  than  submit  to  the  ills  of  slavery  :  many  who 
had  rather  turn  them  loose,  and  leave  them  behind,  while  they  should 
seek  a  happier  clime— a  land  alike  a  stranger  to  slaves  and  to  slavery. 
He  might  be  told  that  the  law  would  not  allow  individuals  to  emanci- 
pate their  slaves,  and  leave  them  here ;  but  what  difference  does  it 
make  whether  they  are  liberated  or  soldf  If  the  negroes  are  left  here, 
and  the  whites  go  away,  certainly  the  proportion  of  the  negro  popula- 
tion is  comparatively  increased,  and  that  of  the  whites  lessened— con- 
sequently the  evil  augmented.  There  had  been  a  singular  idea  advanced 
by  the  gentleman  from  Halifax  (Mr.  Bruce.)  He  stated  that  "  ihe 
negroes  of  Virginia  were  the  only  capital  of  Virginia,  and  if  they  were 
sent  away  we  should  have  nothing  left."  The  gentleman  then  values 
the  land  of  Virginia  at  nothing.  A  rare  idea.  Suppose  you  remove 
the  land — what  w^ould  our  negroes  be  worth?  Such  an  argument  needs 
no  answer.  An  idea  had  been  suggested  to  the  house,  which  had  con- 
siderable weight  from  its  plausibility,  and  had  startled  from  its  magni- 
tude. He  alluded  to  the  statement  made  by  the  gentleman  from  Pe- 
tersburg (Mr.  Brown),  that  any  xneasure  that  could  be  devised  for  re- 
moving the  slaves  from  Virginia,  would  result  in  a  positive  loss  to  the 
state  of  one  hundred  and  fifteen  millions  of  dollars.  Mr.  Speaker,  it 
will  take  a  wise  man  to  prove  that  estimate  true,  and  he  thought  a 
man  must  be  very  far  gone  in  prejudice,  or  of  very  obtuse  faculties, 
who  could  not  see  the  fallacy  of  such  an  estimate.  Why  did  he  think 
so?  Because,  if  it  should  once  be  known  that  it  was  the  policy  of  Vir- 
ginia to  get  clear  of  the  negro  population,  a  multitude,  which  no  man 
could  number,  would  be  sold  and  sent  off;  and  every  female  sent  away, 
and  they  would  be  sent  off  in  the  greatest  numbers,  would  diminish 
the  increase;  and  because  of  a  multitude  of  causes,  which  he  thought 
it  needless  to  enumerate,  as  the  two  first  he  had  stated  proved  all  such 
numerical  calculations  necessarily  incorrect,  and  that  was  enough  for 
his  purpose — for  any  calculation  which  carried  the  proof  of  error  along 
with  it,  can  have  but  little  influence  upon  a  reasonable  man. 

So  far  was  he  from  agreeing  to  the  position,  that  it  would  be  a  po- 
sitive loss  to  Virginia  of  one  hundred  and  fifteen  millions  of  dollars, 
to  get  rid  of  her  black  population,  he  thought  it  would  result  to  her 
pecuniary  interest  to  an  amount  beyond  the  power  of  calculation — -be- 
vond  any  thing  that  the  mind  of  man  could  estimate.  Who  could  es- 
timate it?  Its  beneficial  results  would  be  co-equal  with  all  time  to 
come.  Years  would  glide  by,  generation  after  generation  would  pass 
away — ages  themselves  would  be  forgotten — and  still  the  beneficial  re- 
sults of  such  a  course  would  be  felt — this  act  would  be  but  in  the 
spring-time  of  its  glory.  Is  Virginia  prepared  to  weigh  the  meagre 
results  of  numerical  calculations — against  so  honorable,  so  noble,  so 
glorious  a  result.  Will  she  pause,  like  the  sordid  miser  who,  half  dead 
with  hunger,  takes  his  rusty  coin  from  his  fob,  and  turning  from  side 
to  side  the  precious  metal,  restores  it  to  his  greedy  purse  again,  and 
turns  from  the  food  that  would  relieve  the  sufferings  of  a  hungry  sto- 
mach?   Will  Virginia,  I  say,  thus  weigh  her  gold  against  her  true  in- 


i 


11 


terests  ?  No,  Sir,  when  the  people  come  to  understand  this  question, 
she  will  not. 

But  it  has  been  so  often  admitted,  in  and  out  of  the  house,  that  slave 
labor  was  the  dearest  labor  in  the  world  (which  was  literally  a  sur- 
render of  the  question)  that  he  had  not  expected  to  hear  such  calcula- 
tions submitted  for  the  serious  consideration  of  the  house,  or  the  public. 
If  it  is  true  that  slave-labor  is  the  dearest  labor  in  the  world — and 
true  that  the  cheapness  of  labor  adds  to  the  nett  profit  of  the  pro- 
(jucer — and  these  are  truths  that  no  man  (who  knows  what  he  is  talk- 
ing about)  can  deny — then  it  follows,  as  a  consequence,  that  it  is  to 
the  true  interest  of  Virginia  to  exchange  her  slave-labor  for  white  la- 
bor, which,  by  admission,  and  in  fact,  is  the  cheapest  labor. 

It  might  seem  a  needless  waste  of  time  for  him  to  point  out  some  of 
the  causes  whicli  rendered  slave-labor  dearer  than  the  labor  of  a  free 
white  man — after  the  fact  had  been  so  fully  admitted;  notwithstanding 
he  would  do  so.  Why.  sir,  is  slave-labor  more  expensive,  and  conse- 
quently less  profitable  than  the  labor  of  the  white  man? 

The  answer  is  to  be  found  in  the  operation  of  moral  causes.  They 
have  no  immediate  self-interest  to  act  upon  them — and  you,  Mr.  Spea- 
ker, know  something  of  self-interest.  You  would  not  mount  your 
horse  and  ride  twenty  miles,  to  profit  another  as  many  dollars  ;  but, 
sir,  you  would  do  so  to  profit  yourself  ten  shillings.  Self'is  the  great 
spring  of  human  action — the  great  lever  that  operates  on  man.  This 
great,  this  all-powerful  motive  of  action  is  wanting  to  stirnulate  the 
slave  to  labor.  It  fails  to  operate  upon  him  for  good,  because  he 
knows  his  master  is  bound  to  provide  for  him,  whether  he  labors  much 
or  little,  and  whether  his  master  makes  little  or  much.  Therefore  he 
is  idle  and  wasteful.  He  knows,  too,  that  the  fetters  which  shackle  him, 
are  only  to  be  struck  oflf  by  death— he  knows  that  his  labor  is  for  life — 
and  that  day  after  day  is  to  bring  him  the  same  toil— whether  it  be  on 
the  barren  hill,  or  fertile  plain,  it  is  to  him  the  same.  He  loses  no- 
thing by  his  exertions  being  wasted  upon  stingy  sterility — he  gains  no- 
thing, if  a  generous  harvest  crowns  his  labors.  He,  therefore,  can 
have  no  motive  for  improving  the  soil. 

He  knows  that  his  master  is  bound  to  provide  him  with  lodging, 
clothing,  food,  and  medicine.  He  has  no  dependant  wife  or  children-^ 
to  call  forth  the  energies  of  his  mind — or  nerve  his  arm.  Therefore  it 
is  that  the  slave  is  supine  and  improvident,  utterly  regardless  of  econo- 
my. He  understands  not,  or — if  he  understands — he  does  not  prac- 
tice those  little  savings,  which,  especially  in  agricultural  pursuits,  make 
the  larger  portion  of  tiie  profits,  and  result  in  the  prosperity  of  the 
agriculturist;  and,  indeed,  of  society.  Besides  this — self-interest  ope- 
rates powerfully  to  induce  the  slave  to  pursue  a  different  course.  He 
feels  that  all  he  can  filch  from  his  master,  is  just  so  much  clear  gain  to 
himself  ;  he  regards  all  that  his  master  gets  as  an  unjust  appropriation, 
by  another,  of  his  labor.  He  reasons  thus,  sir;  it  is  a  common 
doctrine  amongst  the  slaves — and,  sir,  it  is  the  reasoning  of  nature — 
man's  unaided  reason  teaches  it  to  him— and  the  heart  of  unprejudiced 
man  owns  its  justness.  It  is  otherwise  with  the  white  man.  Self-in^ 
terest  operates  fully  upon  his  mind — calls  all  its  energies  into  action, 
and  makes  him  intelligent,  industrious,  and  economical.    He  knows 


12 


that  he  is  dependant  upon  his  own  personal  exertions  for  support.  His 
own  exertion  is  to  procure  him  a  home,  and  "  food  and  raiment."  It 
is  to  him,  and  him  alone,  if  he  has  a  wife  and  children,  that  ihey  are 
to  look  for  a  shelter  against  the  pitiless  storms  of  Heaven — to  him  they 
are  to  look  fs)r  a  shield  against  the  biting  frosts  of  autumn,  and  the 
keen  blasts  of  winter— upon  him  they  depend  for  their  daily  bread. 
He  has,  then,  besides  immediate  self-interest,  all  the  tender  sympathies 
of  the  human  heart  to  prompt  him  to  action.  Such  causes  are  lost  up- 
on the  slave,  because  he  has  a  master  to  provide  for  him.  From  t!ie 
same  cause,  the  white  man  desires  to  reap  the  greatest  possible  advan- 
tage from  his  labor — and  he  knows  that  an  equal  amount  of  labor 
bestowed  upon  rich  land,  will  yield  a  greater  profit  than  the  same 
amount  bestowed  upon  poor  land— therefore  he  uses  all  his  exertions 
to  improve  the  quality  of  the  soil. 

Hence  he  concluded — and  to  his  mind,  it  was  a  self-evident 
proposition  (even  though  experience  had  not  so  abundantly  proved 
the  fact)  that  the  labor  of  a  white  man,  who  had  a  direct  and  imme- 
diate self-interest  in  the  product  of  his  labor,  whose  whole  earnings 
are  entirely  applied  to  his  own  personal  advancement,  is  far  better 
calculated  to  promote  the  comfort,  prosperity,  and  true  interest  of  a 
county,  than  the  labor  of  a  slave  who  had  no  such  self-interest;  but, 
on  the  contrary,  whose  self-interest  is  at  war  with  the  self-interest  of 
his  master.  Hence,  also,  he  concluded  that  no  labor,  induced  alone  by 
fear,  could  be  permanently  efficient — calcidated  to  advance  the  happi- 
ness and  prosperity  ot  any  societ}^  If  this  conclusion  is  true,  it  fol- 
lows necessarily  that  the  employment  of  it  must  bring  misery  and  ruin 
upon  any  country  that  would  persist  in  it. 

There  is,  Mr.  Speaker,  another  very  important  conclusion  deduce- 
able  from  these  facts.  It  is  this — that  any  and  every  policy  which  de- 
grades a  large  proportion  of  society,  in  an  intellectual  point  of  view, 
and  impairs  or  destroys  the  effect  of  moral  causes  upon  their  hearts, 
is  unwise  and  ruinous  in  its  consequences.  Slavery  has  that  effect,  as 
he  had  before  shown.  Let  us  look  into  this  matter.  Let  us  see  to 
what  an  extent  it  operates.  At  the  last  census,  our  population  stood 
thus: — whites,  694,445 — slaves,  469,724 — free  negroes,  47,103 — 
total  number  of  blacks,  516,827 — total  population  of  the  whole  state, 
1,211,272.  So  that  nearly  one  half  of  the  population  of  Virginia 
are  blacks.  The  whole  intelligence  and  moral  susceptibilities,  are 
possessed  by  the  whole  of  its  inhabitants.  Now,  if  one  half  of  those 
inhabitants  are  slaves,  one  half  of  the  mind,  and  moral  susceptibili- 
ties of  that  society,  is  lost  to  all  useful  purposes,  which  is  the  case  in 
Virginia — which  he  esteemed  a  greater  loss  to  the  state  than  any 
amount  of  money  could  well  be.  Half  a  million  of  freemen  exerting 
all  their  industry  and  enterprise — exerting  to  the  utmost,  their  mental 
and  physical  energies,  to  increase  the  value  of  their  possessions,  and 
to  advance  the  interest  of  society,  would  be  to  add  incalculably  to 
the  wealth,  prosperity,  and  happiness  of  the  good  old  commonwealth. 
The  removal  of  the  slaves,  would  cause  their  places  to  be  supplied  by 
such  a  population.  If  so,  can  those  who  are  opposed  to  their  re- 
aioval,  harbor  a  doubt  that  such  a  change  would  be  vastly  beneficial  ? 

If  any  man  doubts  still  whether  the  removal  of  the  slaves  would  be 


13 


beneficial,  let  him  turn  to  the  history  of  man.  Through  every  page 
he  will  find  proofs  of  the  advantages  of  freedom  over  slavery.  Let 
him  contrast  the  darker  ages  of  Europe,  when  all,  except  the  great 
and  noble,  were  s.laves,  with  its  present  condition,  when  all  men  are 
comparatively  free.  U  he  still  doubts,  let  him  contrast  the  condition 
of  Europe,  with  our  own  free  America,  and  see  how  far  our  happy 
freemen  are,  before  the  comparatively  enslaved  Europeans,  if  he 
wants  another  example,  let  him  compare  the  non-slave-holding  with 
the  slave-holding  states.  He  will  find  the  non-slave-holding  states  en- 
joying a  prosperity  unequalled  in  the  annals  of  the  world,  while  the 
slave-holding  states  are  comparatively  depressed  and  unprosperous. 
Let  him  turn  to  the  trust-deed  books,  and  the  saddlebags  of  the  paper- 
shaver,  and  he  would  there  learn  the  fate  of  but  too  many  who  em- 
ploy slave  labor;  Most  of  the  slave-owners,  sir,  are  perfectly  content, 
(to  use  a  familiar  phrase)  if  they  can  make  the  "  tongue  and  buckle" 
meet  at  the  end  of  each  year;  but  very  many  of  them  fail  in  this 
humble  desire.  He  had  not  been  indulging  in  fiction  ;  he  was  ex- 
perimentally acquainted  with  slave-labor  ;  he  had  been  reared  where 
it  was  almost  the  oidy  labor;  he  had  stated  nothing  .in  relation  toil, 
he  had  not  gathered  from  experience  and  observation.  Notwithstand- 
iiig  these  facts  are  known  to  gentlemen — who  oppose  all  reform — we 
are  told  that  our  present  system  is  a  good  one — a  prosperous  one — 
that  it  needs  no  cliange. 

The  gentleman  from  Mecklenburg  (Mr.  Goode),  has  told  us — with 
an  air  of  confidence,  and  atone  of  triumph — that  Virginia  is  literally 
the  ''^  mother  of  nations.''^  That  she  has  peopled  the  western  states; 
that  she  had  given  life  and  activity  to  the  great  valley  of  the  Missis- 
sippi.''^  The  gentleman  represented  Virginia  as  a  fruitful  and  fond 
mother,  surrounded  by  a  train  of  blooming  daughters.  Aye — but  like 
such  a  mother,  the  rose  which  blooms  upon  her  daughters  cheeks,  has 
robbed  her  own  of  its  youthful  freshness,  and  given  her  in  return  that 
palid  hue — too  sure  a  presage  of  premature  decline,  feebleness,  and 
decrepitude. 

Jt  may  be  flattering  to  the  pride  of  Virginians,  to  think  that  a  large 
proportion  of  the  population  of  the  western  states  are  Virginians,  or 
their  descendants;  but,  sir,  it  creates  painful  emotions  in  those  who 
reflect  upon  that  fact  as  statesmen  should  reflect.  It  afibrds  "  con- 
firmation strong  as  proofs  of  hol}^  writ,"  that  all  is  not  right — that 
there  is  something  wrong — sometiiing  "  rc)tten  in  the  state  of  Den- 
mark." When  civil  discord  shall  shake  this  vast  empire  to  its  centre — 
when  the  black  war-cloud  shall  lower,  and  its  thunderings  be  heard 
from  boundary  to  boundary,  and  the  fierce  flash  of  contest  shall  play 
fearfully  around  us,  where,  in  this  dread  day  of  our  destiny,  in  this 
dark  hour  of  peril,  will  be  Virginia's  boasted  daughters.^  Where, 
then,  will  be  the  western  states.^  Where  the  "great  valley  of  the 
Mississippi.''"  They  may,  perchance,  be  ranged  against  her.  Yes, 
sir,  they  may  be  her  enemies.  They  may  be  returning — not  to  greet 
her  with  filial  aflfdction,  but  to  wreak  a  bloody  vengeance  upon  her. 
What  then,  would  be  the  value  of  gentlemen's  idle  boasting  .^^  They 
would  dissipate  into  "thin  air."  They  would  be  what  they  now  are, 
and  what  all  boastings  always  are,  an  impotent  regiment  of  high  sounds 


14 


ing  words,  not  worth  the  paper  necessary  to  write  them  on.  Why 
have  our  citizens  fled  from  the  commonwealth  in  such  numbers  ?  Why 
have  they  severed  those  ties  which  binds  the  heart  of  man  to  the  land 
of  their  fathers  ?  Why  have  her  daughters  left  the  tombs  of  their 
mothers  undewed  by  their  tears,  to  be  possessed  by  the  wild  briar  and 
thistle?  Her  sons  are  not  wanting  in  patriotism- — her  daugliters  are 
not  wanting  in  those  tender  sympathies  which  do  honor  to  the  sex,  and 
to  mankind.  It  is  owing  to  the  deep,  the  damning  curse  of  slavery. 
The  employment  of  slave-labor  has  impoverished  our  lands,  cramped 
our  resources,  and  driven  off  our  population.  The  rich  have  gone  in 
search  of  a  belter  field  for  profitable  enterprise,  the  industrious  poor 
in  search  of  employment;  and  some,  because  they  did  not  wish  to  leave 
their  children  in  a  land  that  affords  so  poor  a  pledge  for  future  secu- 
rity. 

If  one,  who  was  totally  ignorant  of  what  a  slave  was,  had  heard  the 
gentleman  from  Brunswick  (Mr.  Gholson),  he  would  have  inevitably 
concluded  that  the  gentleman  and  his  constituents,  eat  slaves  !  Strange 
as  it  may  sound,  he  would  have  thought  right;  for  they  do  eat  them  ! 
Yes,  sir,  eat  them..  Although  it  is  not  literally  true,  because  they  do 
not  consume  them  blood  and  bones,  yet,  according  to  the  laws  of  po- 
litical economy,  they  do  eat  them.  The  slave  is  sold  ;  ^the  money,  or 
price,  then  represents  the  slave;  that  money  is  laid  out  with  the  drover 
for  beef  and  pork — the  beef  and  pork  is  eaten — and  thus,  indirecty, 
the  slave  is  consumed.  This  is  the  case,  not  only  in  Brunswick,  but 
through  the  whole  slave-holding  country. 

However  ihe  employment  of  slave  labor  might  be  defended,  gentle- 
men would  not,  could  not  justify  the  traffic  in  human  beings.  High- 
minded  men  ought  to  disdain  to  hold  their  fellow  creatures  as  articles 
of  traffic — disregarding  all  the  ties  of  blood  and  affection — tearing 
assunder  all  those  sympathies  dear  to  man — dividing  husbands  and 
wives,  parents  and  children,  as  they  would  cut  asunder  a  piece  of  cot- 
ton cloth.  They  have  hearts  and  feelings  like  other  men.  How  many 
a  broken  heart — -how  many  a  Raclrel  mourns  because  her  house  is  left 
unto  her  desolate.  The  time  has  come  when  these  feelings  could  not 
be  suppressed — the  day  would  come  wlien  they  could  not  be  resisted. 
Slavery  was,  and  had  long  been  offensive  to  the  moral  feelings  of  a 
large  proportion  of  the  community.  Tiieir  lips  had  been  sealed;  but 
their  minds  had  been  unfettered — many  liad  thought,  and  thought 
deeply  on  the  subject.    Tliis,  sir,  is  a  christian  community. 

They  read  in  their  Bibles  "  do  unto  all  men  as  you  would  have  them 
do  unto  you" — and  this  golden  rule  and  slavery  are  hard  to  reconcile. 
Gentlemen  may,  perhaps,  curl  the  lip  of  scorn  at  such  considerations; 
but  such  a  feeling  existed  in  Virginia—some  might  call  ihem  preju- 
dices— but  whether  they  were  just  feelings  or  false  prejudices — they 
would  operate— and  operate  powerfully;  and  wise  and  prudent  men 
would  give  them  due  consideration  in  any  decision  they  should  come 
to,  as  to  the  policy  or  impolicy  of  acting  upon  this  subject.  There 
was  one  thing  he  had  omitted.— It  has  been  said,  that  it  was  a  libel 
against  the  stale  to  say  that  slavery  was  injurious  to  the  morals  of  a 
community.  He  did  not  mean  to  say,  that  the  population  of  Virginia 
was  generally  characterized  by  immorality-— far  from  it;  but  he  would 


15 


ay,  that  slavery  always  had,  and  always  must  produce  a  great  amount 
)f  idleness  and  vice.  Where  labor  is  confined  principally  to  slaves, 
false  odium  is  attached  to  it — many,  who  would  otiierwise  be  industri- 
ous, and  laborious,  were  indisposed  to  labor — for  fear  it  would  bring 
them  down  to  the  level  of  the  slave.  He  knew  that  such  an  idea  was  a 
mistaken  one,  yet  it  had  its  effect.  If  a  man  had  a  few  slaves,  it  was  hard 
to  get  his  children  to  work. 

They  see  the  son  of  a  neighbor  (who,  perhaps,  owns  fifty  or  an  hun- 
dred slaves,  while  their  father  might  not  have  more  than  two  or  three) 
playing  the  gentleman,  and  taking  his  pleasure,  they  desire  to  do  so 
too--thus  a  disinclination  to  labor  arises,  and  indolence  and  profligacy,' 
too  often  finish  the  picture. 

From  all  these  reasons  he  thought  every  consideration  of  policy 
and  humanity,  called  upon  Virginia  to  act.  To  take  some  efficient 
measures  to  drain  off  this  filthy  stream,  which  otherwise  will  become 
stagnant,  by  the  closing  up  of  its  accustomed  out-lets,  and  spread  lep- 
rosy and  death  throughout  the  whole  land. 

jflis  object  was  not  to  adopt  a  rash  course,-— not  to  pursue  a  course, 
as  had  been  supposed  by  some  who  opposed  abolition,  that  would  in- 
volve a  disruption  of  the  good  order  of  society.  He  did  not  propose 
to  adopt  a  system  of  general  emancipation.  He  only  desired  to  lay 
the  foundation,  by  disposing  of  those  whom  their  masters  should  volun- 
tarily give  up,  for  the  total  eradication  of  odious  slavery  from  the  good 
Old  Dominion. 

For  such  a  refuge  and  home  could  be  found  in  Liberia.  But  gen- 
tlemen have  said  that  Liberia  could  not  contain  the  black  population 
of  Virginia.  How  many,  Mr.  Speaker,  would  Jamestown  have  con- 
tained when  it  was  first  settled  by  our  hardy  ancestors?  Let  gentle- 
men compare  that  "day  of  small  things"  with  the  present  time — and 
they  might  answer  their  own  objections.  As  that  colony  increased  in 
numbers,  it  would  increase  in  resources—its  limits  would  be  extended, 
and  territory  enough  and  to  spare  would  be  obtained.  Gentlemen  had 
argued  as  if  they  supposed  we  desire  to  lift  up  the  blacks  en  masse, 
and  set  them  down  in  Liberia.  Such  a  course  of  argument  was  unfair, 
and  if  he  did  not  believe  the  gentlemen  incapable  of  such  a  course,  he 
should  say  they  were  purely  ad  captandum  vulgus—'miendQd  to  mislead 
the  public  mind,  and  artfully  to  arouse  the  prejudices  of  society,  so 
that  odium  might  attach  to  all  who  desired  an  alteration  in  our  affairs. 
Such  was  the  efiect,  if  they  produced  any  effect,  that  their  arguments 
were  calculated  to  produce.  He  felt  warranted  in  the  belief,  from  what 
he  knew  of  the  moral  feeling  of  the  community,  and  from  information 
he  had  upon  the  subject,  that  if  an  appropriation  of  money  were  made 
to  send  off  such  as  would  be  given  up,  it  would  be  promptly  met. 

He  thought  it  was  the  duty  of  the  legislature  to  do  thus  much — to 
take  this  first  step  in  the  great  and  good  cause;  and  announce  to  the 
world  the  determination  of  Virginia  to  eradicate  the  evils  of  slavery 
within  her' borders. 

A  gentleman  from  Norfolk — a  man  of  high  character,  and  intelli- 
gence, an  agent  of  the  Colonization  Society  (without  fee  or  reward, 
other  than  that  of  an  approving  consciencej  who  was  fully  informed 
upon  the  subject,  had  informed  him  that  there  were  a  great  many  men 


,16 


in  Virginia,  who  were  willing  and  anxious  to  surrender  their  slaves  as 
soon  as  funds  could  be  had  for  their  removal.  That  gentleman  had 
told  him  that  tiiat  disposition  had  increased  rapidly,  and  was  rapidly 
increasing. 

Mr.  Speaker-^-let  us  commence  the  work — let  us  provide  the  funds, 
and  candidates  for  deportation  will  be  found  flowing  in,  in  greaters 
numbers  than  those  funds  would  remove.  This  disposition  to  surren-l 
der  the  slaves  would  increase  so  fast  as  to  supersede  the  necessity  of] 
any  otlier  law^ — than  an  appropriation  law.  This  was  as  far  as  he  was^ 
willing  to  go— not  that  he  was  not  thoroughly  a  friend  of  abolition— 
"but  because  to  attempt  any  thing  further,  would  be  injurious  to^the 
blacks  and  to  us. 

He  owed,  also,  to  his  constituents  to  act  cautiously.  Many  of  them 
thougl)t  differently  from  him  ;  but  his  heart  was  with  the  cause,  and  he 
had  rather  decline  public  service,  than  to  be  in  lhat  service,  and  be 
obliged  to  act  contrary  to  the  dictates  of  his  conscience.  He  felt  it  a 
duty  he  owed  his  God,  to  act  according  to  the  dictates  of  his  conscience  ; 
and  he  valued  the  approbation  of  liis  God  more  than  the  approbation 
of  man. 

Mr.  Speaker,  it  is  vain  for  gentlemen  to  deny  the  fact— the  feelings 
of  society  are  fast  becoming  adverse  to  slavery.  The  moral  causes 
whicli  produce  that  feeling  are  on  the  march,  and  will  on  until  the 
groans  of  slavery  are  heard  no  more  in  this  else  happy  country.  Look 
over  this  world's  wide  page— .see  the  rapid  progress  of  liberal  feelings- 
see  the  shackles  falling  from  nations  who  have  long  writhed  under  the 
galling  yoke  of  slavery.  Liberty  is  going  over  the  whole  earth — 
hand  in  hand  with  Christianity.  The  ancient  temples  of  slavery,  ren- 
dered venerable  alone  by  their  antiquit}',  are  crumbling  into  dust. 
Ancient  prejudices  are  flying  before  the  light  of  truth — are  dissipated 
by  its  rays,  as  the  idle  vapour  by  the  bright  sun.  The  noble  sentiment 

"Come  let  us  pray,  that  come  it  may 

"  As  come  it  Vv-ill,  for  all  tliat, 
"That  man  to- man,  o'er  all  the  world, 
■   "May  brother  be,  for  ail  that" — 

is  rapidly  spreading.  The  day-star  of  human  liberty  has  risen  above 
the  dark  horizon  of  slavery,  and  will  continue  its  bright  careerj  until  it 
smiles  alike  on  all  men. 

Sir,  liberal  feelings  and  principles  cannot  be  long  impeded — it  is  im- 
possible to  arrest,  and  it  is  not  desirable  to  arrest  them.  It  is,  then,  the 
part  of  wisdom  to  lend  them  a  prudent  aid — the  part  of  wickedness 
and  folly  to  war  against  them. 

He  had  omitted  to  say  some  things  he  h-ad  intended— the  protracted 
debate,  and  fatigued  patience  of  the  house,  admonished  him  to  say  no 
more.  He  felt  grateful  for  the  kind  and  polite  attention  which  had 
been  accorded  him — and  hoped  he  had  said  nothing  to  wound  the  feel- 
ings of  any. 


